Help Picking NA Data Center/World for New Player

[Huntalias]

I recently got FFXIV while it was on sale. I have experience with MMORPGs before, but FFXIV always looked different to me, so I was wanting to try it. I'm looking at the Data Centers and World possibilities and getting a bit confused for choosing. I'm reading online that players can visit any world within the same Data Center, so does choosing a world matter a lot? I see preferred worlds for bonus exp and gil, but I'm not sure what the normal game pace is for leveling, so I don't know if I want to speed through the game/levels (though I do want to get all the jobs maxed). I don't have any friends that play FFXIV and the only person I do know is a Youtuber who plays on Excalibur (which is hard to get into apparently).

I'm stuck between Aether or Primal for Data Center (through reading, probably unnecessary, world "stereotypes"), but from what I saw in game Primal doesn't have any preferred worlds. If I'm looking to get into casual raiding, dungeons, minimum/no rp, and farming endgame content, which Data Center/World would be better? Do preferred worlds level up too quickly to get overwhelmed by content (too much content in the eyes of a new player)? Any advice regarding this selection is helpful as I've spent too much time thinking about it already. Not sure if it matters either but I'm wanting to start out/main Arcanist. Still new to what FFXIV has to offer, so I missed something I do apologize.

[Hasrat]

If you're wanting to try and max out all jobs, jumping on a preferred world would probably be ideal. The leveling pace of main story is that story quests alone are now sufficient (or more than sufficient) to keep on pace with story quest requirements. Just following story, you should never reach a point of needing to grind to get to the next level requirement. (well, almost never. There's a few awkward spots mid/late 30s/40s where quests jump a bit too quick due to reasons, but it smooths out after).
The reality is, even without the bonus exp, even playing only one job, you'd soon find yourself outleveling story content. Especially prevalent at end-of-expansion quests, where previous level cap meant quests didn't have exp, but now they do.
However, you will also find that, due to the level sync system, you'll never really find yourself overpowering much of anything outside of overworld trash. You could rush to level 80 before your first dungeon, but the first dungeon still syncs you down to level 18 for balance. Even gear gets synced down, so, there's no real rush to gear up beyond the instanced content you're running.

All this comes down to personal preference, seems like. I don't personally see any issue with overleveling anything, since there's no real benefit or detriment either way. Some players find some sort of frustration being high level but running lower level quests.

But, back to the point, with the nature of exp gains and available bonuses, combined with the ability to change jobs at will, you should easily be able to keep two or three jobs on-level with main story.

Additionally, due to the nature of main story gating pretty much all content, there's less risk of becoming overwhelmed simply by overleveling. Available content is limited by where you are in the story. Things largely open up gradually. But, this also means if your desire is to get into raiding, you'll be a long way off from getting up to current content.

In summation, returning to the original point, the world you choose won't matter all that much, no. You'll find pockets of everything on every world, I'd imagine. Instanced content is all filled from entire data center, so the home world you choose largely only influences your FC/guild options and marketboard prices.

[Sauteed]

I have played on Primal >> Hyperion since I returned and have enjoyed my time with the game. RP is minimal with mostly having to look for it in party finder and go to a player run event at a private or FC house. FC being essentially the equivalent of a guild in other mmorpgs. I would also say raiding is becoming a more common thing for lots of players but I a absolutely disgusted with the current endgame, and for that matter almost all mmorpgs. It is boring and stale, I don't like gating either nor do I like the idea of wiping repeatedly or "progging" so I have no idea how the end game community is. That being said many players like me have made "glam" and house decorations our savage content and I can say that community is quite enjoyable and the gating there is what you are willing to settle for. You can join an FC and get access to certain features like a personal room to decorate or maybe even gardening depending on the fc. You can also get an apartment to decorate. Housing will take effort and patience on most data centers. If that is a true goal for you I will hope your experience with that is smooth.

I am Oishi Tamanegi on Hyperion among other characters. Maybe we can meet some time ♡

[Frizze]

If youve been reading the stereotypes, then you probly know aether has the reputation for raiding and primal is more laid back(crystal being the RP heavy data center). Does that mean you wont find raid groups on primal? Of course not. The primal party finder has statics looking for members/fill ins and PUGs just looking to play at all hours of every day. There might be less of them then aether(ive never seen a side by side so i dont know if thats true), but you can still always find them. So in regard to what youre looking to get into, the two are more or less the same.

So that gets to the other point of leveling all jobs. There are a ton of sources of bonus exp in the game, but the only way to get the preferred server bonus is right when you first make the character. And while it isnt required to level everything up, it certainly helps for as long as you can keep the bonus. In the long run, your choice of world mostly affects how easy/hard it is to get a house, which Free Companies(this games version of guilds) you can join, and how active your market board is for selling stuff. The rest of the game allows for or considers data center over world. You can buy from the market during a world visit, but you can only sell on your home server. You can visit housing and tour places on a world visit, but you can only own a house/apartment on your home server.

[ItMe]

Sargatanas is a good fit. It's the smallest NA server so it's a happy little community, and iirc it's a preferred world right now.
Additionally, Farie has a rep for being super good to new players.

[Huntalias]

I'm still new to the forums so I'm not sure how this reply looks. It's in response to Hasrat if it isn't listed under his post.

If I do go with a preferred world then I have to go with Aether Sargatanas. That's good information regarding leveling through quest. I wasn't sure of the pacing, but if there is only one hiccup in the leveling then maybe preferred isn't terrible. I don't have frustration in being higher level, but I didn't know if power leveling ruined the grind of FFXIV, but with level scaling it shouldn't be terrible. Would there be any reason to do side quests when doing the main story aside from leveling? That would determine if overleveling could be an issue. Don't suppose there is anyway to check marketboard prices without logging into each world? Thank you for the helpful advice!

[Huntalias]

Reply to Sauteed if not this post is not in the right order.

I have heard some good things about Hyperion, but back to the issue that I think Primal is one of the most populated Data Centers in NA? I do like the idea of joining Primal to maybe meet the Youtuber I follow, but Primal doesn't have any preferred Worlds. When looking at Primal I was interested in maybe Famfrit for the name, as Hyperion reminds me a lot of Boderlands. I've also read that Primal is a bit of a laid back mix of RP and Raiding/PVP, so I figured Aether = Raiding, Crystal = RP, and Primal was the mix in-between. Not sound reasoning, but that's how it worked out in my head. I do enjoy decorating and designing, though I guess I can do that on any World? What's the issue with housing? I see a lot of people complain online for not enough "room" or "space"? I don't know exactly what housing entails.

[Huntalias]

Replying to Frizze.

Yes. I was reading several Reddit posts regarding community opinions on various Worlds. Crystal is notorious for RP, Aether has pretty high clear rate of Raids, and Primal is a laid back mix of RP and Raiding. I know all Data Centers/Worlds have groups for what I'm wanting to do, but some have more than others. I'm not tied down to a specific world due to friends, so I'd like to plan it a bit better before joining. I kind of like the name of Aether more than Primal though (also has a preferred world).

What is the issue with housing, back to the reply from Sauteed? And preferred worlds apparently also give 1,000,000 gil first time a character reaches level 30? How hard is it to get gil? I get the Data Center/World visits, though it's limited to what you can do in other worlds. I am also aware of world/data center transfers if I don't enjoy my choice, so I guess I could use the preferred world for exp, then transfer 90 later if it doesn't work out. That is certainly a possibility I had considered.

[Huntalias]

Replying to ItMe (yes, you!).

Sargatanas is a preferred world currently, hence why my avatar/main character is on that World. I wasn't aware that it was the smallest NA server as I thought I read a poll that showed it had some of the highest clear rates for raids. I guess that poll was outdated? I liked the name of Faerie a lot, so I'm fighting between a better name or bonus exp. Does a smaller community mean better prices/less competition? Also, does it being a Legacy World matter a whole lot?

[Frizze]

Replying to Frizze.

What is the issue with housing, back to the reply from Sauteed? And preferred worlds apparently also give 1,000,000 gil first time a character reaches level 30? How hard is it to get gil? I get the Data Center/World visits, though it's limited to what you can do in other worlds. I am also aware of world/data center transfers if I don't enjoy my choice, so I guess I could use the preferred world for exp, then transfer 90 later if it doesn't work out. That is certainly a possibility I had considered.

So lets start with housing. Currently there are 2 types of housing in the game. You have apartments/FC rooms, and you have ward houses. Apartments(same goes for FC rooms) have practically unlimited availability. This is because they are instanced and you access them from another building(either your FCs house, or the apartment building you picked). These are the smallest(least physical space and least number of items that can be placed) and cheapest option, and only have an indoor space for decorating. Ward houses are bigger(both space and item limits), come in multiple sizes, cost significantly more, and are limited to a specific number per server(of which, most servers are currently sold out). Apartments are forever, if you dont use a ward house it can get demolished and put back up for sale. So people complaining about housing are usually complaining that there arent enough ward houses available for the people who want them, though you also see a few who want to be able to place more items or have more space to work with. In addition to houses being demolished, they do add more wards from time to time so houses do become available. But its also true that there are like twice as many players on an average north american server as there are housing plots.

None of that is to say that you cant get a house. The next batch of new wards will show up in probly mid october, and houses do become available outside of a new batch. I just advice most new players to get an apartment first. You can still do almost everything a house can do, you dont need to worry about losing it, you dont need to deal with competition, and you save a lot of money. As for money, im not sure if that million gil thing is still an active thing or not. It could be. Making money isnt hard(it gets easier and easier the higher level you are), it just takes a strategy. That strategy could be crafting and/or gathering, it could be selling quest rewards, it could be treasure hunting, it could be selling rare dropped materials, hell - you could make your fortune leveling up bard until you unlock instruments and then playing music in the town square for tips. There really are a ton of different ways to make money. For instance, i recently starting playing with a bit of side content(Eureka - requires level 70 and being a certain ways into the story). I decided when i started i was willing to spend a couple million to make it easier to get up to speed and meet my goals there. I spent about a mil. Then i got a lucky drop from a fight, and now i have a belt that i can sell for 8 mil(if i dont decide to just use it). Ive also found along the way that there are a ton of other money making spots inside. So ive paid back my mil invested and im making a profit instead.

Regardless of what you choose, welcome to the game and best of luck!